1. Chapter 1: Swings

I laughed obnoxiously at my own stupidity. The tape recorder that was in my hand crashed to the floor, myself following. My sister had, once again, recorded my sleep talking and once again proved me to be thoroughly idiotic. It should be embarrassing, but I have been sleep talking since I was real young and it no longer bothered me. The only thing it did to me was cause extreme giggles, now that my sister recorded my voice at night.

“Michelle, the best part is dad always talks to people at lunch, why would he say something like that?” Katelyn roared with laughter, thinking about what I had said over the recorder.

“I honestly have no idea what I dream about, I never remember anything when I wake up.”

“Like that one time you said, and I quote ‘Security… BRAS!’”

My sister and I met on the floor rolling around, getting dirty because the floor hadn’t been moped in forever. We thought why should we? We’re moving in with Dad’s new girlfriend up in Forks. The house had been sold to a realtor who would sell it. We didn’t see the point, and were lazy people.

“Man, I can’t wait for tonight, last night in this dump, and probably some hilarious tales from your subconscious,” Kate said once we sobered up.

“No doubt,” I said, grabbing my hoodie, “well, I’m off to the park to say goodbye to everyone, catch ya later scrub!”

“Get outta here!” Kate said throwing a napkin at me, unsuccessfully.

I smiled to myself while walking down the street. This town had a whole lot of good memories in it. But I never had called it home. In 1996 we moved here from Portland, Oregon, because Mom had gotten a really great job offer, but since she left us in 2000 we haven’t really liked it here. When Dad got engaged to Molly Gardner we decided to move in with her in Forks, a small town about 40 miles from ours.

I sighed, my friends waited for me in the park, out of the three of them I trusted none. They were controlling ego maniacs and I had never really liked them. I mean, they were alright with moderation. I just never got into their scene after middle school. I focused more on getting good grades and enjoying life without the drugs and alcohol, while they, on the other hand, focused on whose party was when.

Greg Wheeler, Alicia Morgan, and Jayson Alexander were waiting at the swings for me. Not my favorite place in the park but whatever floated their boat. Out of all the places I had been to in my life, this simple park was my favorite of them all, small, secluded, and yet all of my favorite memories were here. Mom and I used to have so much fun here.

“Hey Shells! OHMIGOD, I will miss you so much! You have no idea,” one would think that was Alicia, nope, that was Jayson. Jayson was the most feminine guy EVER, but he was totally straight, I even dated him freshman year, right before I grew apart from the group. We broke up during sophomore year due to his… persistence in certain activities I wanted no part of at the moment.

He embraced me with a warm friendly hug, we remained friends through it all, here it was a year and a half after we had broken up and we were still hanging out. Well, as much as we could with out partying. I could smell his cologne, the same he had always worn. If I wouldn’t miss Jayson, I would defiantly miss his smell.

“Jayson, get the hell off my best friend, please,” Alicia said, practically throwing Jayson off me just to give me a hug.

Alicia Morgan was one of those controlling forceful “IMA KICK YOUR ASS” kind of girls, and being pregnant didn’t help anything. She was extremely demanding of Greg since they got engaged do to the baby. Alicia was there for me to hold my hair back the first time I ever got wasted, which coincidentally was the last time I got wasted. Though, she always tried to force me to do things I didn’t want to do, like drugs. And I never did them, it pissed her off.

The poor guy was stuck with Alicia, and I knew he wanted out. But unfortunately he got Alicia pregnant during a midnight escapade, and now he had no where else to go. He gave me a pleading look every time I was around and Alicia was being too overbearing and I had to try and set her straight for him, but I wouldn’t be around to help anymore, and Greg would have to live with his own choices.

“Shelly you’ve been a really great friend to me and Alicia since we were little kids, I want to thank you for that,” Greg said out loud, then in a smaller tone while he was hugging me, “I’m going to visit my grandmother a whole lot more this summer, to see my best friend Michelle.”

Alicia wouldn’t have been happy to hear that statement. She was a jealous individual and it was no secret that Greg had at one point really liked me and tried to get with me not even six months ago. I had Alicia help me through the whole thing, so she knew more than anyone how much Greg had liked me. It had been borderline obsessive. It was actually partly my fault that she was pregnant in the first place, she was getting him off my back four months ago, and now she’s four months pregnant.

“I’ll defiantly miss you all, but its only a forty minute drive!” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Well… yeah, but we all work, and Alicia’s eggo is prego, so we wont be driving up there too often, but we will come a few times this summer, swimming, hello!” Jayson exclaimed. I doubted Jayson and Alicia would show up. But I knew Greg would.

“I gave you all Molly’s number and you all have my cell, and I have yours, so we’ll keep in contact, its not like I’m moving across the Pacific!” I smiled at them.

“God Shelly, can’t you just accept that we’ll miss you being around?” Greg asked, rolling his eyes at me.

“Naw, you kids will still have your good times, and I won’t be around to tell you that your ‘good ideas’ might get you killed. Lord knows you do them regardless of what I say anyways.”

At this Alicia laughed, “Isn’t that the truth.”

We heard music coming up the street, it was definantly Jayson’s older brother Max coming to pick him up. Jayson was going to South Dakota to see his Grandma for a few weeks so he couldn’t stay long, he only came to wish me good luck with them move and to say goodbye.

“Well, that’s Max, I’ll text you girl!” Jayson gave me one last hug and wished me a safe trip, hopping into his brother’s Escalade and driving off.

“There goes the ex boyfriend,” Greg said, laughing.

“Well honey, Mom told me not to be up here to long, so I’m going to get home, Greg, you’re coming right?” Alicia looked at him pointedly after giving me one last hug.

“Yeah, go ahead and get a start, I’ll meet you in a second, I just have to tell good old Shelly something.” He said.

I saw Alicia’s eyes flash crimson. Not towards me, she knew better than that, I was the one who didn’t want Greg. She was looking at Greg with that evil look she gave. Whatever Greg had to say, it must have been important to say something like that to Alicia. He was going to face her wrath when he got to the car, if Alicia was really going to wait for him before she drove off.

One Alicia was out of earshot he stared me straight in the eyes, “Say the word and I leave Alicia and move in with my grandma in Forks.”

I wasn’t surprised. “No, Greg, you know its not like that between you and I. I don’t like you in that way. You and Alicia have a baby on the way.”

“I don’t care Shelly! It wasn’t supposed to happen in the first place! I’m not even sure its actually mine, you know how Alicia is!” he pleaded.

“Greg, it doesn’t matter. You and I will never have a relationship, I’m sorry.” I started walking off but looked back, “Go to your fiancé, Gregory, she needs you to get her threw the pregnancy, and hopefully you’ll be around for the child.”

I continued to walk away, Greg had problems letting go sometimes. I honestly thought he had gotten over everything with me but apparently not.

As I walked inside my house I couldn’t help but notice how barren it looked. I hadn’t seen it looking like that since we had renovations done when I was nine, in 2000, right before mom left. I was happy we were moving. Really, Molly was already more of a mother to me than mom ever was. She was a workaholic who never came home.

It wasn’t much of a shock when she divorced Dad and left him for a rich lawyer. They are now happily married, living in Beverly Hills with a child on the way. Since she heard that dad was getting re-married she has been trying to get back into mine and Kate’s lives. Kate talks to her more often than I do though. I haven’t gotten over her leaving us to fend for ourselves thing she pulled.

At least we get nice fat child support checks every month.

“Shelly! Hey girl, I’m staying here tonight to help you guys in the morning, Mom and Caleb are coming to, they just got a little hung up at home, one of the doctors at the hospital left and Mom got stuck with some extra paperwork.” My soon to be step-sister Kim rounded the corner.

I liked my soon to be step-siblings, Kim and Caleb. They are the nicest kids you’ll ever meet, as long as you get them to open up. They are seriously shy, Kim is better than Caleb since she started dating her boyfriend Jared last year, but she still didn’t do to well with crowds and new comers. Caleb, on the other hand, was way reserved and very much a momma’s boy. But I got nice conversation out of him when it was just us two. They both liked my Dad very much and wanted Molly to marry him just as much as we wanted Dad to marry Molly.

“Sweet, how’d Jared feel about that?” I asked with a knowing laugh. Jared as VERY protective of Kim and didn’t want her anywhere out of his eyesight.

“I told him to suck it up,” she smiled, following me to my bedroom. All that was left in it was my bed.

“Wow, way to go Kim, so are you going to introduce me to any awesome friends of yours up on that Reservation?” I asked, even living forty miles away I knew just how good looking the guys on the Quileute reservation were. I saw them from a distance, and more and more of them were looking that way every time I go there.

Molly’s house was half on the Quileute Reservation and half in Forks. Since my dad was marrying into the tribe, it was acceptable that we go the Reservation school, but Kate and I respectively declined to go to Forks high school. Because we knew we would be spending most of our time with kids on the Reservation because of Kim, we wanted to know the kids in Forks too.

“Well, duh! There’s a couple guys I’m sure are going to want to date you, I know them personally through Jared, they already know about you and they are defiantly interested.”

I smiled despite myself. Not that I wanted a boyfriend or anything, it was just that it would be nice to date someone that wasn’t Jayson, he had been the only guy I had ever dated, so someone new would be nice. Jayson wasn’t exactly the best boyfriend either. It was about time to put myself back on the market in a new place. I knew that Kate had the same idea.

“Moving is going to be fun tomorrow,” I smiled.

“I’m glad you and your dad split the basement into two rooms, or else I would have had to share a room with you and your sleep talking,” she said laughing.

“Well I bet Jared’s just happy you’re not sharing a room with me,” I smiled, she swatted my arm.

“You’re horrible!”

“I do try,” Kim told me everything about their relationship since day one. I knew about her being in love with him before he ever opened his eyes and noticed her. Our parents had been dating for four years, so Kim and I had been best friends since day three. (Took me a couple days to break through her barrier.)

We went back and forth for another few minutes before we decided it was best we went to sleep, we had a big day tomorrow. I pulled out the bed under mine and, both of us being fast to fall asleep ,were asleep in about five minutes.